Work
by LSMunch
Summary: Of all those things we deal with every day as if it were any regular ninetofive office job. CHAP 7 UP, LAST CHAP
1. Work

Disclaimer: I don't even know why I bother anymore... I've nothing worth taking... anyways... he ain't mine, neither is SVU

A/N: Six more chapters on the way, all drabble length.

There's something about first walking onto the crime scene of a murder. Everything you were just talking about with your partner fades away. Everything you were worrying about; where you're gonna go for lunch, what you're doin' after work, with whom, when you're gonna get that report finished, why you said something earlier that day, how you got to the scene... it all fades away. And all that's left is the facts.

The gory, intimate details of death. Of rape. Of all those things we deal with every day as if it were any regular nine-to-five office job.

But that's just work.


	2. Where?

We were going to go out for Chinese for lunch. Already had everyone's orders down too. Usually, some rookie detective gets the food, seeing as everyone's testing their limits, seeing how far they'll bend before they snap. It's an unspoken, unwritten initiation of sorts. Every new detective goes through it.

Right as Fin and I were about to leave, Cragen hit us with what I like to call the "whodunit" stickie. You know, the little Post-It note with the address of another crime. The little details he scribbled down while on the phone.

It's where we're supposed to go.


	3. What?

I was supposed to go on a date tonight. Yeah, believe it or not, Mr. Jim Irsay-of-Love had a date. And he was trying his hardest not to get it screwed up.

Well, the guys had been teasing me about it all morning, part of the reason why I offered to go grab lunch. When Fin said he'd tag along, it wasn't like I could really say no, so... He was getting ready to come.

He didn't have a date that night. Probably a big part of the reason why he was teasing me so much.

A date, that I cancelled, that's what I was supposed to be doing tonight.


	4. Who?

My date was with... bet you can't guess... Assistant District Attorney Alex Cabot. Real shocker, huh? I'm still kind of reeling from the shock of it.

She asked me to have dinner, the last time I was in her office. Just out of the blue, "Hey, John, wanna go out for dinner sometime?"

I've no idea why she asked me. Hell, does she think I'm _interesting_ or something? I mean, I'm not a side-show, folks. Just divorced a few times. Or does she just wanna pick my brain over some topic?

"Yeah, sure. Thursday night good?"

Godammit.


	5. When?

Cragen had been on my back about this report for this rapist we caught last week. I usually don't leave paperwork, simply because sometimes sitting in the squad room with the noise of people around is better than watching the Sci-Fi channel at home, alone. Sometimes the History channel, although that depends on if they're showing another damn World War II documentary. I swear, I think that's all those people think happened since Christ was born.

So, back to Cragen's question.

When am I gonna get that report in?

Looks like tonight might be suddenly open.


	6. Why?

"Why don't you just suck it up, Stabler? So, she left you, we heard. It's not the end of the world."

Yeah, I said that this morning. And, even more surprising, Stabler walked away. No black eyes, bloody lips, or broken noses for the Munchkin today, nosiree.

Even a little later, as Olivia approached me about it, she didn't seem that angry or anything. I actually got the feeling she was glad that someone had finally told her partner to quit the whining.

She didn't even ask why I said it, just accepted it as a man who'd been through divorce enough times to be allowed to tell Stabler to shut up without penalty.


	7. How?

I drove Fin and I to the scene. He'd been driving all week, both for work and driving me to and from work.

My car is still broken and Fin told me the other day, for about the thousandth time, to just get a new one already.

Guess he doesn't understand the meaning of the words "alimony payments."

But that's all right. I almost rather him be on my back about a new car than really understanding the consequences of alimony payments.

Well, anyway, I drove us to the scene, just to drive.

Just to feel as if I had a car.

Stupid, huh?


End file.
